A Bloodline Most Foul
by Kairyn Deliae
Summary: A new case has brought a Spirit Detective from Japan to investigate the goings ons around Bayville and a certain...unique boarding school. Will contain an OC or two.
1. Chapter 1

**This story picks up after YYH is completed for a while and Season 1 Episode 6 of Xmen Evolution: Middleverse.**

~*~*~A Bloodline Most Foul~*~*~

It was dark in the small cottage-like house. The moon was almost full, illuminating the house and surrounding forest. Near the tree line of the secluded cottage the moonlight seemed to collect in a single spot and radiate in the vague appearance of a small woodland animal of some sort.

After a moment the silver creature darted forward. It easily jumped the small fence that surrounded a vegetable garden and began to sneak to the beige side of the house. In full view the creature appeared to be a fox with golden eyes that shined with superior intelligence.

Vines crept up the side of the house to a window on the second story. The vines slipped through the crack between the two closed panes and undid the latch. As the silver fox began to climb on the vines, the plants pried the window open and retreated slightly.

The fox reached the window with no difficulty and sat quietly on the windowsill. The room was small but pleasant. An _empty_ twin bed was covered in a handmade quilt of bright colors and tucked under the window. The fluttering of light blue curtains attracted the fox's golden gaze for a split second before it turned its attention back to the room. A small desk was shoved between the closed door to the right and a dresser. Another door was in the middle of the left wall and through the gap the fox could just see clothes hanging inside.

The silver fox jumped down onto the bed and sniffed it with its delicate nose. A few dark hairs were clinging to the quilt and pillow. Slowly the fox began to change shape. It grew bigger as the silver light that seemed to radiate from its fur grew brighter to fill the entire room.

It was only a moment before a girl with long red hair and the same golden eyes as the fox was sitting on the edge of the bed. She wore a sleeveless green Chinese-styled shirt with the tie fastenings going off to the right side of her torso. A long white skirt with green leaf-like embroidery fell to her ankles and split clear up to her mid thigh on her left side. White ankle boots with blocky heels gently _clacked _on the ground as she resettled herself.

The girl glanced around the room again before getting up. She walked to the desk; she had noticed a crumpled paper underneath of it. Pulling the chair back she reached for the paper that had missed the metal trash can. The redhead flattened the paper on the desk and studied it carefully. She took another glance around the room before checking the dresser. As she had suspected there were far fewer clothes than one would expect a teenager to have.

She silently jumped out of the window and had the vines re-close it behind her as she headed back to the forest. She didn't wait to be under the cover of the trees before reaching into the small pouch she carried around her waist. Pulling out a pink compact she held it up to her face before opening it. "_He wasn't there_." Her voice was soft as she spoke the language that was so out of place in the current country.

A face of a baby, complete with pacifier, appeared where the mirror of the compact should have been. The large blue hat he wore had the letters Jr. printed on it. _"What do you mean not there?" _The baby demanded in perfect Japanese. He was no ordinary baby that much was clear.

"_As in not in this location, Koenma-sama. I had thought I was being remarkably clear." _She replied calmly. Her own oddities made talking to the infant, who somehow managed to talk _around_ the pacifier, seem almost normal

"_You have to find him, Makoto! The situation must be evaluated." _The toddler said slamming a chubby fist against the wooden desk he sat behind. "_Do you have any idea where he went?" _

The girl, Makoto, nodded. _"There was a paper in his room about something called the Xavier Institute. I will search there for him."_

"_Did you at least find out if it's true or not?" _Koenma asked slightly calmer now.

"_Smelled like it. I'll know for sure once I see him. I'll keep you updated." _She said as she closed the compact and put it away. She was deep in the forest now and wasted no time in hurrying on her way. She covered miles in a fraction of the time it would take a human to move. Hopefully, she'd reach her target quickly and be home before her father began to worry about her. He was so overprotective sometimes.

It took Makoto several days before she could locate the Xavier Institute. It was a mansion of some sort. An 8-foot fence surrounded the property, which included a bit of forested area and ended at the cliff side with the ocean down below. The mansion itself had at least two stories and several wings to it and a fountain of an angel sitting in the circular driveway. _Plenty of space to remain undetected in. _Makoto thought as she sat in the trees of one of the many large oaks on the property.

If it weren't for the completely unpredictable weather that Makoto had witnessed going on around the mansion she might have enjoyed being here. As it was it rained a bit too much for her liking. She put the thought out of her mind as she saw the group of five teenagers leaving the mansion like they did every weekday morning. They didn't seem to notice Makoto as she watched them leave the property. _Perhaps it is time for me to take a more active role in my case. _She thought leaning back until she fell off the branch she was in.

Flipping a few times she came to land under the tree in a crouch. She straightened and brushed her clothes off. She had decided her normal attire was a bit too flamboyant for her current mission so she had opted for an ivory shirt and olive cargo pants, which held the pink communicator in one its many pockets.

It wasn't difficult to figure out where they were going but walking the distance at a normal speed to avoid suspicion meant that she arrived at the school almost at lunchtime. The bell rang out an annoying tune as she sniffed the air carefully. She could smell her target nearby.

Edging around a corner she saw her target sitting at a table with the same teens from the Institute. One was a girl with long red hair and green eyes who wore lavender ¾ sleeve shirt and beige cargo pants. The other girl wore her brown hair in a ponytail with two pieces of bangs framing her young face. A ping cardigan covered a yellow shirt and Capri pants finished off her distinctly juvenile look. Makoto made a face; the other girl's blue eyes were too innocent for her liking.

One of the boys looked like an ordinary street thug. African American his blonde hair seemed most likely to be dyed and was shaped oddly. He wore skating gloves and knee and elbow pads constantly. His too large shorts needed to be held up by a belt and still they showed the top of his boxers, which his tank top was tucked into. That had to be rather uncomfortable.

The boy that was talking wore a pair of red sunglasses and had his brown hair cut in a fairly fashionable –if a bit too clean cut for Makoto's tastes- style. His clothes were rather clean cut as well; a blue sweater over another shirt and a pair of nice jeans. "-Duncan Mathews' party? Eh…I don't think so." He said shaking his head slightly.

The skater pointed to the orange carton of milk in front of the other, "You gonna finish that moo-juice?" He asked.

"You an have mine." The redhead said handing over the carton she had. "Come on, it might be fun." She added looking over at the boy with sunglasses.

"Mathews is a jerk." The older teen said firmly.

"No he's not. I'd go." The brown haired girl said gesturing to herself as the skater stole her milk as well.

The sunglass-wearing boy just looked at her and said, "No freshmen allowed."

The girl made a face "Oh, Mathews is a jerk." She said folding her arms across her chest with a pout.

"Half of the school will be there. Suppose someone gets too close to Kurt." He argued pointing to the teen next to him. The boy had shoulder length blue-black hair and wore a brown button up over a red shirt and pants held up in the same style as the skater did. "That holo-projector won't stop them from feeling his fur."

Kurt glared at him for a second before brightening slightly. "Hey! Chicks dig da fuzzy dude." He said putting his hands to his chest. Makoto noticed that he held his hands oddly. Like his fingers were fused together. "Right?" He asked leaning closer to the brown haired girl.

She laughed a little, but didn't look amused. "I'm, like, soo outta here." She said getting to her feet. "Later." She called as she left the table and headed inside.

"Oh yeah." Kurt said nodding to himself. "She can't resist." He ran a hand through his hand as the skater stole the carton of milk in front of him. Makoto stifled a smile; he was such a goofball.

"I'm trying to be serious here." The apparent leader said firmly. Makoto frowned a bit at the tone. "Look we go to Mathews' party suppose Dukes or Maximoff try to start something." He said pointing across the courtyard where a thin boy with slicked back white hair was standing next to perhaps the biggest teen Makoto had ever seen who wore a blonde Mohawk. "We're not the only Mutant's in the school ya know."

"Yeah, just the cool ones." The skater said before high fiving Kurt.

"Hey come on, Scott. What's wrong with a little socializing?" The redhead asked leaning forward on her hand.

Scott sighed. "I'm sorry I just don't think it's a good idea." He reiterated.

"Dude! It's just a party!" Kurt said exasperatedly. He jumped up onto the table and started to do a very strange semblance of an old dance. "Time to shake that tail! Whoo hoo! Party, party, party!" Makoto gave a start when a blue demonic looking tail suddenly appeared.

"Hey! Watch the tail!" Scott snapped as he glanced around. Quickly he reached up and grabbed Kurt's tail and jerked him back into the seat. Kurt gave a howl of pain and glared at the older boy. "Now see? That's exactly what I'm talking about!"

"You pulled my tail, man!"

"Grow up, Kurt."

"Hey, lighten up dude!"

"You're always goofing around." It was turning into a full-blown argument and the redhead on the other side of the table looked between them cautiously, as if not quite sure whose side to take.

"And you're seriously cramping my style."

"Listen-"

"No, you listen! There's a sound I vant you to hear and it's-" Kurt suddenly burst into smoke with a _bamph _sound. Makoto narrowed her eyes as everyone in the schoolyard turned to look.

Scott waved the left over smoke away coughing slightly. After looking around for a second he sighed and rested his head on his hand. "Blew it, didn't I?" He asked sullenly.

"Oh, yeah." The redhead agreed.

"Totally." The skater said.

Makoto sniffed the air carefully. That smoke had smelled like sulfur. Chances are wherever Kurt reappeared would smell the same. There. She could smell the reek of sulfur. Kurt hadn't gone too far. Makoto made her way to the location as quickly, yet casual-looking, as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

Makoto tracked the smell of sulfur to what looked like a cellar. A plume of dust was filtering up from the cracked open door. Makoto saw a pale girl with brown hair and white bangs approaching. Almost every inch of her skin was covered with either green or black. Makoto hurried into the room. She didn't particularly want to be found out so early.

Inside the room, which looked like it was a storage room of some sort, Kurt was laying on a pile of cardboard boxes that he had –apparently- crushed. This image of a normal teenager was flickering with the sound of broken electronics. Something distinctly blue seemed to keep showing up instead.

Kurt groaned as he pushed himself up slightly. "Ugh, I have got to vork on my reentries." Makoto quickly ducked into the next room before Kurt could notice her. She ignored the 'Stay Out' sign on the door and peered through the glass window carefully.

Kurt looked down at the watch on his wrist. It was sparking dangerously on his wrist. Finally the image completely failed and Makoto saw that Kurt's skin was blue and his ears pointed. He also had three fingers and two toes instead of the normal five as well as the already stated tail. Instead of the blue eyes Makoto had glimpsed earlier, Kurt now had silvery-white eyes. "Aw, veak man." Kurt moaned.

The blue teen whipped around at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. "Who's there?" A southern accent asked.

Makoto had to move back so that Kurt wouldn't see her as he looked around frantically for a hiding spot. Apparently, he too had seen the other door. Suddenly there was a _bamph _noise and Makoto jumped when the cloud of sulfur smoke filled the air next to her. "Who are you?" Kurt asked jumping back in shock.

"Someone you just about gave a heart attack to! Don't you ever look before you port?" Makoto hissed, hand over her heart. Luckily she had always been an ace student in her English class back home so the language change wasn't too much of a difficulty for her. Makoto coughed slightly and waved the dust away from her face. "I don't think anyone's been in here for a while."

"Look, uh…this is a costume!" Kurt said frantically gesturing to his blue skin. "I'm uh…vorking on a play!"

Makoto gave him a dull look. "Don't worry about it. I won't tell anyone you're blue and fuzzy."

Kurt looked confused and a bit wary. "You…vont?"

Makoto sighed; this undercover observation idea wasn't turning out the way she had envisioned it. Oh well, she'd have to improvise. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a seed. She held it up for Kurt to see before channeling her energy into it. The seed immediately sprouted in her hand. Kurt's eyes widened in amazement. "You're not the only one with secrets, Taisei."

"Taisei?" Kurt echoed in confusion.

"Oh! Uh…it's Japanese…your color. It's taisei." Makoto explained. "Anyway…where are we?" She asked looking around the dusty room.

"I vas hoping you'd know." Kurt said looking around as well. He was more at ease now that he had seen Makoto's powers. He made a mental note to ask her to come to the Institute and meet the Professor later. "Someone should fire the custodian." He commented as he waved some dust away from his face.

On three of the four walls there was a wide assortment of machines. Makoto only barely recognized some as computers. Makoto and Kurt exchanged a look before Kurt hesitantly walked forward. Suddenly all the machines powered up and the hum of electricity filled the dust-covered room.

On the main screen the image of a boy with tan skin and wavy black hair appeared smiling at them. "January 22, 1978." He stated. "Hi there. If you're hearing this message you've got ten seconds before this lab self-destructs. Have a nice day. What's left of it."

The image of the boy disappeared and instead the digital number ten appeared in red lines. Quickly the numbers started counting down. "Uh oh!" Kurt said staring at the bright red numbers.

"That cannot be a good thing." Makoto ventured taking a hasty step back.

Kurt rushed forward to the keyboard of the main computer. "I knew I should have paid more attention in computer lab!" he started typing on the keys as the numbers continued to count down.

"I think we should leave." Makoto said grabbing Kurt's bicep. But before she could wrench Kurt back the way they had come the entire world seemed to devolve into fire and light. Both of the teens were sent flying backwards and into the other room.

The girl from before hurried over to where the two of them had ended up cushioned against some boxes. "Hey, hey are you okay?" She asked kneeling down next to Kurt. "What happened?"

Kurt barely opened his eyes. "Lab…booby trapped." He said.

"Lab?" The girl echoed getting to her feet and looking at the direction they had flown.

"Yes…lab." Makoto said getting to her feet and brushing the dust off of herself. "Mostly electronics from what I could tell, not much in the way of biologic experiments."

The girl looked Makoto over carefully. "Are you one of those X-men jerks too?" She asked warily.

Makoto raised an eyebrow. "Not that I was aware of. My name's Makoto Minamino."

"Rouge." The other girl answered the unasked question shortly. Rouge started towards the lab, coughing on the dust that the explosion had kicked up. "Woah." She said looking around at the sparking computers that littered the room. "Whatever this stuff was it's thrashed now." She commented walking further into the room.

Makoto helped Kurt to his feet as Rouge explored the ruined lab. From the other room she heard Rouge say "Except for this."

Kurt and Makoto walked back to the lab. "Vhat are you doing here?" Kurt asked holding his side as he walked. Rouge was holding some device that looked vaguely like the underwater machines that you held onto to move faster than you could swim.

Rouge looked over her shoulder. "Heh, look who's talkin'. At least I didn't blow the place up."

Seeing the strange device in her hands Kurt jumped forward and tried to grab it from her. "Hey, let go of that!"

"Back off, blue boy!"

"Now, now, children could we play nice around the strange machines?" Makoto asked trying to get between them. "We don't know what that thing could do."

Rouge pushed off, sending both Kurt and Makoto stumbling back. "Who says you're in charge here?" Suddenly the machine whirled to life in Rouge's hands. A beam of multicolored light shot out of the machine and formed a bubble around the two teens. The light was so bright that Makoto had to throw her arm up to protect her eyes from harm.

When the light finally faded out they looked to be in the main lobby of the school though everything was different. Ghost-like almost. "Vhat happened?" Kurt asked looking around. "Vhere are we? Da twilight zone?"

"I somehow doubt that." Makoto commented dryly.

The sound of people seemed to echo off the empty halls. For a split second students appeared but then the faded away again. It was very creepy, even for Makoto who routinely dealt with ghosts and the like. The people kept appearing and disappearing, but none of them ever seemed to touch Makoto or Kurt.

Suddenly two of the people that Kurt had been sitting with appeared. The skater and the girl with brown hair. "Man, Scott's gotta lighten up." The skater said.

"Yeah, but Kurt's gotta, like, know when to quit." The girl commented.

"Kitty?" Kurt asked. "Kitty!" he reached out to grab the girl but his hand went straight through her. The girl laughed a bit and kept walking. "No! Vait! NO!" Kurt looked around frantically, as his friends didn't seem to notice him. "Vhat's happening to me?"

Makoto frowned. "You're not the only one here you know." She said annoyed.

Kurt turned and sighed. "Sorry, it's just…this is so freaky! I don't like it."

"Nor do I. But panicking will not solve anything. We must keep our heads." Makoto advised. Studying the way people kept flickering in and out.

"You sound like da Professor." Kurt commented.

"The Professor?" Makoto echoed. "The Professor of what?"

"Oh, uh…nothing! I'll explain later…if we ever get out of here." Kurt said looking around again. "Oh, uh…I'm Kurt by ze way. Kurt Vagner."

"Minamino Makoto." Makoto shook her head. "I mean, Makoto Minamino. Japanese say family names first. I keep forgetting." Makoto walked around as she thought. "I would venture to say that we've been dislocated. This place doesn't seem to follow the rules of Ningenkai or Makai or even Reikai. However the connection to the Ningenkai is rather undeniable."

Kurt only understood a little of what she was saying. The words Ningenkai, Makai, and Reikai completely escaped him but she seemed to know what she was talking about. "So how do you we get out of here?" Kurt asked as he watched Makoto walk around the lobby.

"I'm thinking." Makoto said absently. "Perhaps your teleportation could allow us to break through the barrier and return to where we are supposed to be." She muttered.

Kurt brightened up, having heard her thought. "Alright! Let's try it!" And, without waiting, teleported off. After a few minutes, Kurt popped back up in front of Makoto. "Okay, wherever zis is, I can't teleport out." Kurt made a noise of frustration.

"In a way I'm glad." Makoto said. Kurt looked over confused. "Well, if it had worked and you couldn't get back. How was I supposed to get out?"

Kurt rubbed his head sheepishly. "Oh, sorry."

"It's alright. We'll just have to find another way out." Makoto said. Looking around at the hazy surroundings of the school.

"This is just vay too freaky." Kurt said looking around as well. Suddenly a flash of light, like before, filled the air above them and something big started to take shape. "Ahh! It's raining furniture!" Kurt screamed as a large desk fell to the ground, forcing both Kurt and Makoto to jump out of the way.

"That is unsettling." Makoto said from her spot on the ground. "Let's go before more items decide to crush us." She said getting to her feet.

"Ja. Let's go." The two of them hurried down the hallway. As they walked a car suddenly appeared overhead. Kurt screamed and teleported forward while Makoto took a running dive into a nearby classroom. "Are you okay?" Kurt asked as Makoto hesitantly walked back into the hallway.

"Yes. But this little excursion is getting more and more dangerous." Makoto said looking at the nearly destroyed car. "I say we go someplace that we can easily dodge falling machinery."

"How about da gym?" Kurt suggested.

Makoto thought for a minute. It would certainly have the room to dodge things. Slowly Makoto nodded. "That should work well. But, let us teleport this time. Less chances to be crushed that way."

Kurt nodded and put a hand on Makoto's shoulder. It felt like the entire world was crushing down on them and then the pressure evaporated and they were standing in the entrance to the gym. Suddenly someone came up behind them and Makoto jumped into the bleachers while Kurt teleported up to the wall above the door.

The boy from the computer screen walked through, coughing at the sulfur smoke. "Where'd you come from?" He asked walking into the open area of the gym.

Kurt jumped down and the other boy whipped around. Kurt held up his hands "Relax!"

"W-what are you, man?" The boy asked, looking vaguely frightened.

"Don't let my looks fool you. I'm a harmless blue fuzz ball. Really." Kurt said straightening and giving a timid smile.

Makoto jumped down from her perch on the bleachers. "I assure you we just want to get out of here."

Suddenly Kurt seemed to recognize the boy. "Hey…I know you. You're the one I saw on the computer screen just before it blew." Kurt said approaching the boy.

The boy seemed more at ease, if slightly embarrassed. "Uh, yeah. The name's Forge." He said putting a hand to his chest. "So you found my lab huh? What's with the Halloween getup?" He asked looking at Kurt's blue skin with confusion.

"No costume. I'm human." He assured. Makoto carefully chose to stay quiet. "But I'm a mutant. I know I look strange, but-" He teleported behind Forge "-There are some fringe benefits."

Forge looked excited now. "Trippy! I though I was the only one." He said holding his arm up. His hand changed into a metal…thing with strange appendages that Makoto found far more unnerving than Kurt's blue skin. Kurt took a surprised step back.

**Important Terms:**

**Ningenkai- human/living World**

**Makai- Demon World**

**Reikai- Spirit World**


	3. Chapter 3

"How are we going to get out of here?" Makoto asked as she avoided looking at the strange arm.

"You guys have any electronics on you?" Forge asked looking between them.

"Ja, sure." Kurt said handing his book bag, which he had managed to keep even through all the falling objects. Makoto thought of her communicator but thought better of it. That wasn't normal technology and she didn't want to risk someone figuring out where she had gotten it.

"Can one of you drag that table over here?" Forge said pointing to a heavy wooden table next to the wall.

"Sure." Makoto walked over and –not bothering to hide her abilities anymore- lifted it onto her shoulder. It wasn't heavy for her but then she had a distinct advantage over the other teens.

Kurt's eyes widened slightly. "Voah, is that part of your mutation too?" He asked as she put the table down in the center of the gym.

Makoto shrugged. "Something like that."

"Cool." Forge said as he rifled through the contents of Kurt's backpack. Kurt jumped up onto the table to watch while Makoto leaned against the edge casually. "I might be able to make something outta all this." He said pulling out a portable CD-player.

Suddenly a stone birdbath appeared a few feet away making Kurt jump slightly. "Man! Somebody's really giving that gizmo of yours a vorkout." He said pointing at the birdbath as he turned back to Forge who was busy at work.

"It would seem so." Makoto agreed.

"That 'gizmo' is a trans-dimensional projector. My science fair project back in '78. And when I fired it up it created this pocket dimension –that I call Middleverse- I got caught in the ray myself and I've been stuck here ever since." He said with another embarrassed smile.

"'78?" Kurt echoed with surprise. "But you still look…"

"Like I did then." He finished with a nod. "I know, I can't explain it." He said going back to work.

"Since this is a pocket dimension it is entirely possible that time moves at a different rate." Makoto ventured. "As such time may be moving too slowly for you to notice. For instance, for us it has been thirty some years. For you it could have been thirty some _minutes_. It would depend solely on the displacement variance of the dimension that has been created."

Forge looked up thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought of that. It makes sense I guess. That would also explain why I haven't gotten hungry either. How do you know about dimensional theory?" He asked curiously.

"My father is very…though with getting tutors for my education." Makoto offered uneasily. _I shouldn't say so much. _She scolded herself. She knew better.

"Anyway, they shut down and locked my lab after the accident." Forge said, apparently accepting her story. Kurt jumped off the table and wandered a bit. "Everyone was totally freaked when I disappeared."

"So there's no vay back?" Kurt asked turning to look at Forge unsure.

Forge shook his head. "Not without help from the other side. And I'm thinking that you may be able to help out on that. And man I'm tellin' ya, I'm ready to go home."

Suddenly a pair of laughing girls appeared, walking towards the locker room behind Kurt. Apparently forgetting that they couldn't see him, Kurt pushed his hair back in a flirty way. The girls disappeared through the door to the girl's locker room. Kurt put a hand to his face "So, just how far does this middleverse extend?" He asked taking a few steps closer to where Forge was working.

"Stops just short of the girl's locker room." Forge said not looking up. "Isn't that a burn?" He asked as Kurt's face fell.

Makoto rolled her eyes. "Perverts." She muttered and Kurt gave a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head.

Forge suddenly straightened, hand turning back to his human one. "Ha! Done."

"Vhat is it?" Kurt asked with confusion.

Makoto leaned over to get a better look. "This little baby will alter the phase-shift frequency of your teleport power." Forge explained holding the strange accumulation of parts up in front of him.

"Uh, my English is a little…limited." Kurt said holding his fingers slightly apart.

"You can teleport back to the real world." Makoto translated for him.

"Alright!" Kurt said happily.

"But only for a sec." Forge added. "These batteries don't have much power. Still with luck, you can tell somebody how to reset the projector to get us back."

Kurt buried his head in his hands "Oh, I just hope dey don't think I'm joking." He said apprehensively. Forge looked confused. "I kinda have that rep." Kurt explained uneasily.

"We should go back to the lab." Forge said holding the new device. "That's where the barrier between middleverse and the real world is weakest."

"Then let's go." Kurt said putting a hand on Makoto and Forge's shoulders. With a explosion of smoke they were standing back in the laboratory. All of Kurt's friends were standing there, though Makoto noted that they were wearing strange leather suits instead of the casual wear she had seen earlier.

Rogue was leading the way. "This is where it happened." She said gesturing to the room.

Scott, who was now wearing a visor instead of sunglasses, bent down and picked up the broken watch that Kurt had been wearing. "It you've hurt him, I'm gonna-"

"You start threatenin' me and you're never gonna find your friend." Rogue said glaring at Scott who returned the look just as angrily.

The redhead jumped between them, a hand on both of their shoulders. "Whoa, take it easy Cyclops."

"Yeah, Cyclops." Kurt said putting a hand on the see-through Scott's shoulder. "Just like I'm always telling you."

"Yo, guys!" Kitty called from where she and the skater boy were examining the machine. "We've been running a diagnostic on this thing." She said.

"Can you believe it? It uses CPM. Talk about retro, man." The skater added.

"It's putting out some kinda, like, steady low power pulse wave that just seems to disappear into thin air." Kitty explained still looking over the control panel of the projector.

"And that means…what exactly?" Scott asked looking confused.

The skater looked over to where the other three were standing. "Well, we figure that the pulse has the crawler stuck in some other dimension." He stated.

"At least they aren't stupid." Makoto said with a smile as Forge and Kurt exchanged a happy look.

"Okay so let's trash this thing." Scott said reaching up to the side of his visor.

"No, no!" Forge said trying to wave Scotts attention. "They've got it all wrong." He said running to Kurt. "If they destroy the projector, we'll be trapped here forever!" He said frantically.

"Why didn't you mention that before?" Makoto demanded.

Forge, still looking at the others in fright, answered, "I didn't think they'd be stupid enough to destroy it!"

Scott took the projector from his friends and put it on a table that had survived the explosion. After that he took several steps back. "Everyone stand back, I'm gonna use full power." He said reaching up to his visor again as everyone took several steps back. "This could get messy."

"They have no idea…" Makoto muttered.

"Um, ya know I could just Phase through the gizmo and, like, quietly short it out." Kitty suggested. Both Scott and the skater looked at her like she was crazy. "Heh, right, forget I mentioned it. Like, what is it with guys and explosions anyway?" She asked the redhead next to her who gave a laugh of agreement.

"Ohh, Forge, hurry!" Kurt said as Forge put the finishing touches on the machine. "They're gonna nuke the projector any second."

Forge tightened one last screw. "Done. I think it'll make you visible for a second. But I was so rushed putting it together-"

"Just tell me what to do!" Kurt interrupted anxiously.

Forge pointed to a button on Kurt's vest. "Push that button and teleport. Tell them not to destroy the machine. They have to reset it instead. But you've only got a second before the battery fries."

Kurt nodded. "Right." He said looking at his friends, still poised to destroy the projector. "I'm gone." He added pushing the button and teleporting. He reappeared in a flash in front of the projector. He instantly pointed to it "Reset. Don't-" But that was all the time he had and Kurt was back in Middleverse.

Scott and the others looked startled. "What? You guys saw that right?"

"He's still alive." Rogue commented.

"What was he saying?" the redhead asked. Kitty shrugged.

The skater instead answered, "He said 'Reset don't'. Ya know, don't reset it."

"Oh no…" Makoto moaned.

"He wants you to blow it up." The skater added putting a hand on Scott's shoulder. "Do it!"

"I swear these guys are, like, obsessed." Kitty said folding her arms over her chest. The redhead nodded in agreement.

"Uh…it sounded more like a warning to me." Scott ventured, hand on his chin in thought.

"Do you think they'll get it?" Forge asked as he watched anxiously.

Kurt was tense next to him. "I just hope they believe it."

"A warning? From the goofman himself?" The skater echoed. "Nah, come on, shred that sucker!"

Kurt groaned, putting his hands on his head. "Man, you do have a rep." Forge stated.

"Wonderful." Makoto muttered.

Scott stepped forward suddenly. "No. Nightcrawler's a joker but…even he knows when it's time to get serious."

"Yes!" Kurt cheered, happy to have been believed.

"Look, if he wanted to blow up the projector why didn't he just say 'Don't reset' instead of 'reset' then 'don't'?" Scott asked looking back at the others.

"Oh, Cyc. You da man!" Kurt cheered giving his friend two thumbs up, despite the fact that the other couldn't see it.

"I think he wants us to rest this thing." Cyclops continued as he picked the projector up.

"Score!" Forge and Kurt cheered before high-fiving.

Makoto sighed. "That was a bit…nerve wracking." She commented with a smile.

Scott turned the projector over in his hands to look at the control panel. "Uh, intensity settings, power regulators, uh, beam width, Restart!" Scott pressed the button and the projector started buzzing with energy. It shook out of Scott's hands and onto the table.

A bright beam of light shot out of the projector and formed a sphere of multicolored lights. Clearly they could now be seen since Scott shouted at them "Come on! Teleport through."

"Hang on. Let's go." Kurt said pointing to the exit portal.

Forge put a hand on his shoulder "We can't the battery's tapped out." He said pointing to the small double A's that they had used. "We need more juice to get us home."

"The portal's closing." Makoto warned.

"It's now or never." Forge added. As the circle started to shrink in front of them.

"What's the matter?" Scott asked. "Let's go."

"Another power source…" Kurt muttered, trying to think of one that might work.

Suddenly Makoto put a hand on his shoulder. "The car!"

"Let's go!" Kurt said grabbing them and teleporting over to where the car was still sitting in the hallway.

"Groovy ride." Forge said as they came out in the hallway. "But where's this power source?" He asked.

"Over here." Makoto called already hurrying towards the green car.

Forge transformed his hand "Far out man!" He cried as he hurried over.

"I swear, that homy's lingo is so vack…" Kurt muttered.

"Less talking more techno-magic please." Makoto said bending over the open engine compartment. Forge quickly had the battery of the car hooked up to the machine that he had made for Kurt. Makoto tore off the loose hood and jumped into the back seat. "Time is of the essence I believe."

"You sure this vill vork?" Kurt asked looking at Forge who was in the passenger seat.

"No."

"Vundaba." Kurt groaned. "Let's hit it!" He added pressing down on the accelerator. Once they were moving Kurt transported, the car and all. He barely remembered to honk the horn in warning as they came out of the portal, slamming into the table and running into the huge teen that Makoto had seen outside.

Surprisingly enough the blonde teen was able to catch the car and stop it in its tracks. "Wh-whoa…good thing I'm the blob." He said in a deep, slightly less-than-intelligent voice.

"Yeah you can say that again." Another teen with slightly green skin and a reek of the unwashed said as they got out from the front of the car.

"Aww, come on guys." The last one said shaking his head as he saw the destroyed projector. "This party's over."

Forge pressed against the air bags that had deployed in front of them. "What the heck are these?" He asked turning to Kurt curiously.

"Reentry cushions." Kurt answered punching his lightly. "Cool eh?"

Makoto straightened and blew a strand of red hair out of her face. "I do not believe I enjoyed that…" She muttered. "Next time I wish to ride a car through a shrinking portal…someone be so kind as to talk me out of it."

Silently everyone headed out of the basement and towards the parking lot. There wasn't much to say of course. It had been a long and tiring day. "Hey you two are welcome to crash with us for a while." Scott said turning to Makoto and Forge. "Xavier's cool, you'll like him."

"Thanks but I'd better go find my parents." Forge said pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "I'm twenty years late for curfew."

"Have fun explaining that one." Makoto said with a smile.

"Yeah, it'll be a tough one." Forge agreed. "Thanks for bailing me out." He added to Kurt.

"Hey, anytime." Kurt said as they did this strange hand gesture that Makoto had never chosen to take part in. It seemed a bit too childish for her tastes.

"Hop in, we'll give you a lift." Scott said gesturing to the red sports car they had crowded around.

"No problem, its just a few blocks." Forge said turning to walk back to the life he had been missing.

Scott took out a notepad and pen. "Okay, but if you need any help just call." He said jotting down the number and handing it to Forge.

"Sure, I'll do that." He agreed taking the paper with a smile. Everyone called his or her goodbyes as Forge headed out of the parking lot.

"What about you Makoto?" The redhead, now introduced as Jean, asked.

Makoto thought for a minute, this might be just the break she had been hoping for. "Well, I'll have to call my father…get his opinion. Tell you what, I'll come by the Institute in the morning and give you my decision." She said jumping up to land in a nearby tree with ease.

"But, you don't even know, like, where it is." Kitty protested.

Makoto smiled. "Taisei over there reeks of sulfur…I'll be able to find it."

"Taisei?" Evan, formerly known as the skater, echoed. Makoto winced at the butchering of the word.

Kurt laughed a little, rubbing the back of his head. "She means me…"

Makoto bowed to them. "I'll see you in the morning." She said and jumped further into the forest. She made certain to get out of earshot before opening the compact communicator from her pocket. "_Koenma-sama?"_

_"Makoto! I'm so glad you've called…what's the word?" _Koenma asked anxiously.

"_It's true, My lord. But…I'm not ready to make my decision yet. This case…it's more complicated than we originally thought. There are humans here. Humans with powers that rival even the strongest psychics. They call themselves mutants and they think that is the cause of my powers." _Makoto explained crouching down on a tree branch.

_"And?" _Koenma asked, clearly sensing there was more to her story.

_"They have invited me to join them." _Makoto finished.

"_Are these…mutants a threat?"_

Makoto shook her head. "_It's too soon to tell. But they are powerful and I request an extension to better evaluate the situation."_

Koenma made a face. "_Granted." _He relented, clearly not happy about it. "_But you have to tell Kurama. I won't do it. He'll kill me!" _He added looking around as if expecting the redhead to pop out of the corner and slaughter him right there.

Makoto smiled. "_Very well. I'll call him next."_

_**Forgot to mention that the words in italics are spoken in Japanese. Thought I'd mention it now...**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Kind of a short filler chapter....but I felt it necessary**

Makoto pressed a button on the base of the compact. The button that looked like it should have been pink blush. It took a few rings but then a familiar face appeared. "_Hello Daddy." _Makoto said with a smile.

"_Makoto. I hope this call means you are coming home soon." _Kurama said green eyes glinting with good humor. His red hair was slightly mussed, Makoto noticed. Meaning he either just finished a training session or just got in from working in their green house.

Makoto sighed; she hated ruining her father's good mood. _"Sorry Daddy, something's come up."_

_"What kind of something?" _Kurama asked eyes narrowing slightly.

_"This case is just a little more complicated than we thought. I'm going to have to infiltrate an entire organization it looks like." _Makoto said rubbing a leave between her index finger and thumb. "_You know I wouldn't do this if it wasn't necessary."_

Kurama sighed. "_Yes, I know…just…be careful, little one."_

_"Then I have your permission?" _Makoto asked just to be certain.

Kurama frowned a bit. "_I suppose. But I want to know what's going on. If I don't hear from you routinely I'll come myself…or send Hiei instead."_

Makoto winced slightly at the not-so-subtle threat. "_I understand Daddy. I'll be sure to keep you updated. I'll talk to you soon, I promise. Love you, Daddy."_

_"I love you too, little one." _Kurama said with a smile. Makoto closed the communicator and headed towards her lair that she had made near the Xavier Institute. She had some things to gather still. Not to mention the wonderful experience in the pocket dimension of Middleverse had left her wanting to get some sleep.

Makoto woke fairly early the next morning and gathered all of the things she didn't wish to leave in the small cave she had been camping in. Changing into her Chinese style top and long white skirt she packed the rest of her clothes into the duffle bag she carried. She set her hair in a low ponytail, held there by thin vine, she tucked the hair that wouldn't stay back behind her ears and pulled on her white ankle boots.

By her estimations it was only 9 or so when she left for the Xavier Institute. Being as close as she was it only took a few minutes for her to reach the front gate with her duffle bag over her shoulder. She pressed the intercom button and waited. A crackly voice of a woman came from the speaker. "Can I help you?"

"I met a bunch of your students yesterday, they said I'd be welcomed here." Makoto answered.

"I'll buzz you in." The woman said. There was a loud buzz and the main gate opened to let the redhead inside. _This should prove interesting… _Makoto thought as she walked towards the large mansion.

Three people were waiting for her when she got to the front stairs. "Hello there. I'm Charles Xavier. I own this school." A bald man who was sitting in a wheelchair said amiably. Makoto felt the stirrings of a strange presence testing her mental barriers and reflexively tightened her shields. The man's eyebrow rose but made no other indication of anything out of the ordinary.

"I'm Minamino Mak-I mean…Makoto Minamino. It's so hard to remember that." Makoto said rubbing behind her ear nervously. These three were a bit unnerving as they studied her. She was at least discreet when she examined someone; they were most decidedly not.

"This is Ororo also known as Storm. And the man beside her is Logan or Wolverine." Professor Xavier said gesturing to the other two adults standing next to him. Ororo was a rather statuesque African lady with long white hair and smart blue-grey eyes. Logan was a bit…rougher. With blue-black hair, stubble and heavy muscles he looked more at home in the forests than a manor. "Please come inside and we can talk."

Makoto nodded and let herself be lead inside. The main lobby of the manor was taken up by a large staircase and was drenched in rich colors like the red carpet. Fancy sculptures and paintings decorated the room, as did a large chandelier and several comfortable looking couches. But they lead Makoto to a small office off one of the side hallways.

"I take it you were the one that was with Kurt yesterday in the so-called Middleverse?" Xavier asked as Ororo closed the door behind them.

Makoto nodded. "Indeed I was. Quite an…interesting experience. I'm sure that Forge would have won the science fair…had he been around to compete in it."

"What were you doing there anyway?" Logan asked sounding just as gruff as Makoto had imagined.

Makoto sighed a bit. "I was investigating." She answered honestly. She had decided last night that she would try to be as honest as possible, though she couldn't come right out and say she was looking for demons among them she had to give a viable reason for her being there. "I had heard about strange happenings and was curious. At the time it was my job to make note of such things that were out of the ordinary."

"Job?" Wolverine growled. "Who do you work for?" He demanded.

"Nobody. At least, nobody that had any idea that mutants even exist. Just a detective agency that I've taken a leave from. Secrets are hard too keep. As yesterday showed me quite clearly." Makoto answered carefully.

"They didn't know what you were?" Ororo asked curiously.

Makoto smiled at her, a smile well practiced to throw people off their balance. "Does everyone know what you are?"

"…I see your point." Ororo said.

"Kurt said something about a seed when I asked him what happened. Would you care to elaborate?" Xavier asked having accepted Makoto's story as close enough to the truth. Makoto didn't fool herself into thinking he'd accepted every word she'd said. He seemed too smart for that.

Makoto reached into her hair and detangled a seed from the strands. "I use my energy to control plants." She said as she urged the plant to grow. It sprouted immediately, covering her hand and arm with vines. Makoto held rigid control of the plant however; it was one of her more dangerous ones and could easily kill the humans that were around her. "Making them grow is one of the easiest things I do, so I decided to show Kurt that power so that he'd know I wasn't going to tell anyone about his blue fur and tail."

"That elf needs to be more careful." Logan stated.

"We already know about what happened with that, Logan." Xavier reminded the other man. "We can't help it if the image inducer breaks. I take it you've discussed this with your father?" Xavier asked turning to Makoto.

"Yes. He was not happy at the distance that would separate us but he realizes that right now this is where I need to be." Makoto answered.

That strange stirring entered the edges of her mind again but this time Makoto was slightly better prepared for it. She realized that the bald man was the one probing her thoughts, though he only seemed to be reading the surface thought and not probing into her memories. Makoto fashioned a few thoughts for him to read and he withdrew almost instantly. "Well then, welcome to Xavier Institute Makoto."

"Alright!" Someone shouted from the other side of the door.

Makoto laughed a little "Kurt…eavesdropping is very rude."

The door opened and Kurt stuck his blue head in. "Sorry, but I saw you come in so I thought I'd see if you vere staying."

"You need better excuses." Makoto said before tossing her duffle bag at him. Kurt nearly fell backwards at the sudden force of the bag hitting him in the chest. "Come on, Taisei, show me where my room is."

"Uh…right." Kurt said throwing the bag over his shoulder. He led the girl up the grand staircase and down the hall of bedrooms. They were filling up in a strange pattern. All the girls were on the right side of hallway and all the boys were one the left. Makoto was the third door on the right. "Here you go. Home sweet home." He said opening the door for her.

Makoto walked in and took a survey of the room. It was nice. Wood paneled walls with a large window that opened up to a balcony. A double bed with a red comforter sat against one wall but there was still plenty of room for a vanity across the room, a dresser by the door, and an oak side table. There was a radio in one corner as well as a small bench at the foot of the bed. "It's not home." Makoto said before going to the balcony. "Not yet anyway."

Kurt looked confused as he looked around. He had been ecstatic when he had seen the room he would be staying in. Makoto gave a small smile. "I'm used to lots of plants in my room. Once they're here…then I'll be home." She explained.

"Oh, I get it."

"Why aren't you in school? That's where the others are now isn't it?" Makoto asked as she picked up her duffle bag and pulled the top open.

Kurt sighed. "My inducer is still broken. I can't go to school until it's fixed."

"I see…such a hassle. It's unfortunate people aren't mature enough to handle such a little thing as fur." Makoto commented. "At least it's a good color."

"Really?" Kurt asked sounding a bit shocked.

Makoto nodded. "Think about it, Taisei, you could have gotten pea-green fur instead."

Kurt made a face. "I see your point. I'll leave you to pack then. I'll be in my room if you need me. It's da second on the left." Makoto nodded in understanding as Kurt left the room.


	5. Chapter 5

**What's the difference between Hits and Visitors? I_ think _I know but I like to be sure. So if you could drop me an answer that'd be lovely thanks!**

* * *

Makoto folded up on of her pairs of baggy pants that she used for fighting –a habit picked up from her father- and tucked it into the bottom drawer of her dresser. She was almost done with unpacking, the only thing missing were the plants that she'd spread around the room like a miniature security system all her own. They'd warn her if someone was near and keep her secrets hidden from the other teens. Suddenly she lifted her head and sniffed the air that was coming in from the open balcony door.

She could smell the reek of demon blood. It was nearby, probably in the woods outside of the school. She got to her feet and made her way to the balcony. She swung herself up to sit on the railing, legs crossed as she sent her mind racing along the forest's plant life.

_There. _She had pinpointed the demon a mile or so away and closing. What on earth was a demon doing here? Makoto didn't bother with finding an answer just then and slid off the railing to land on the ground below. Her amber eyes narrowed as she took off towards the tree line. Already her youki was gathering in anticipation of a fight. She could only hope that none of the 'mutants' would get in the way.

Makoto slowed down when the scent of demon grew stronger. But that wasn't the only scent she smelled. She could smell the distinct copper tinge of freshly spilled human blood. The demon had killed someone. She reached up to her hair and brought out the white rose she was so fond of fighting with. With a quick flick of her wrist the rose lengthened into a spiky green whip. The Rose Whip, her inheritance as an animal spirit.

She paused in her pursuit of the demon to look down at the mangled body of a hiker, barely recognizable through the blood and ripped flesh as once being human. Makoto began running again, she'd deal with the hiker's body later; she had a demon to kill.

The other demon must have noticed her by now because it was quickly raising its own youki as it made a hasty and rather sloppy retreat. Makoto burst through a bush, her whip already seeking a target. The demon was low level, probably fresh to the human world and now sported one less head. Fortunate for him it had two.

The surviving head hissed in a Makaian Dialect that Makoto was only vaguely familiar with. Something about being lied to and cheated; nothing particularly earth shattering coming from a demon. Makoto didn't bother to ask what it was doing here. The dead hiker had answered that question already.

The demon rushed her, bloody claws spread to try and catch her side. She dodged to the right easily enough and the Rose Whip slashed through the demon's body once, then twice as it snapped back. The thorns of the whip, which could cut through even solid stone, found the bones of the demon as easy to cut as butter. Makoto withdrew her youki from the Rose Whip, allowing it to return to its natural state of a harmless white rose.

"And why were you here?" She asked staring down at the decapitated head as she stored the white rose in her hair where the red strands tangled around it and kept it concealed.

With a sigh, Makoto picked up the pieces of demon and carried them all back to where the hiker's body lay. She couldn't let any evidence be found by humans, they'd ask far too many questions that had no easy answers. Once she had a gory pile of body parts and oozing blood she took a step back. She hated this part of the job, she really did.

Reaching into her hair she pulled out a tiny seed. Dropping the seed on the macabre pile she started to channel her youki into it, making it sprout. The plant, one of the more gruesome varieties of a moss from the Makai, wasted no time in feeding off the corpses.

She thought as she waited. It had been thought that the barrier around this part of the Ningenkai was fairly strong. Not too many demons bothered with the humans that resided here. That was why an entire team hadn't been sent to investigate the strange demonic aura that had appeared.

The aura wasn't strong, or particularly threatening, but it wasn't something the Rekai could ignore either. The only reason that agents had picked up on the aura in the first place was because of how few demons roamed this part of the world. And yet, here was a demon that Makoto had most certainly _not _been expecting. Furthermore, now that she was actively scanning for it, she could sense a few other tiny pinpricks of demonic aura as well.

Again, none of the auras were strong, probably no demons above a D level but that didn't alleviate the tugging at the back of Makoto's mind that said something more was going on here in Bayville than she could see. Makoto's eyes narrowed; she didn't like being caught off guard and this development had thrown her for a loop. She could handle the demons, they were no match for her –she was ranked a B level demon after all- but the question of why they were here was not one she had an answer to.

Makoto glanced at the Makai moss and saw that it had devoured the remains of both the human and the demon. She reduced it back to its seed form and put it back in her hair. Satisfied that nobody would find a trace of what had happened here she started back for the Institute. It was unfortunate that the hiker's family wouldn't be able to lay their loved one to rest but she couldn't risk it. There were no animals in these woods that could have done what the demon did.

_Perhaps my presence here has attracted the demons… _Makoto thought as she strolled back through the trees. She shook her head. No, that couldn't be it. The demon had run as soon as he sensed her coming. He hadn't wanted to fight someone more powerful than him.

Then perhaps it was Kurt that had attracted the demon's attention. Kurt's demonic blood –for Makoto was now certain he had at least some demon in him- would have been like catnip to them, luring them with the temptation of an easy and more filling meal than a normal human would provide. Kurt wouldn't have been able to defend himself against the demon. His teleporting ability wouldn't have saved him for long, especially once the demon realized that was the only thing Kurt could do. Makoto had yet to see any offensive abilities from the fuzzy teen.

The redhead sighed and shook her head to clear it. All this endless speculation wasn't going to help her. Perhaps the barrier was simply weakening in this area, it was entirely possible what with all the strange powers that were manifesting in the humans. It might be a side effect from too much reiki filtering through. That would make these 'mutants' simply highly powerful psychics. Makoto brushed a loose strand of hair back behind her ear; she needed to find out more about these so-called mutants.

When Makoto entered the main yard of the Institute, she noticed that Logan was outside, polishing a motorcycle with reverence. She raised an eyebrow. And people called her silly with her plants. At least the plants were _alive. _Makoto sighed and headed towards the doors of the Institute; perhaps she'd go and find some pots to home her plants that she wanted to put in her room. "You okay Red?" Logan asked gruffly as he got to his feet.

Makoto blinked at the strange nickname before smiling in her disarming way. "Yes, fine thanks."

Logan raised an eyebrow and came closer. "Ya smell like blood." He replied, seemingly unconvinced.

Makoto's gold eyes narrowed slightly. _An overly developed sense of smell…this is not good. _"I found an injured animal in the woods." She lied pointing over her shoulder with her thumb. "It took off when I tried to help it though."

"What kinda animal?" Logan asked suspiciously.

"A fox." Makoto answered instantly. Mentally she kicked herself for that answer. She should have come up with something a bit more believable. Or at least something not so related to her own nature.

Logan raised a thick eyebrow at her. "Ya got that close to an injured fox and didn't get mauled?"

Makoto smiled humorlessly. "I have a way with animals. The city is stranger to me than any forest. I'm meant to be there." Makoto looked over her shoulder at the line of thick oak trees. Suddenly realizing her slip she snapped around and smiled again. "Well, I'd better go. Goodbye Logan-san." Quickly she darted up the stairs and inside before Logan could question her further.

_Makoto, I believe you are slipping. _She thought to herself with a sigh. Now that she knew Logan could smell the blood she'd might as well get the scent off of her. Besides, she had been camping for a good week and had missed the simple pleasure of a hot shower.

She stopped by her room and grabbed the soaps that she had brought before heading down the hall to a door Kurt had earlier pointed out to be the bathroom. Makoto flipped the sign to 'Occupied' as she went in and set her things down on the counter.

Carefully she detangled all the plant life from her hair and put them in a plastic bag that would keep them dry. If they got wet too often they would start to mold and she most certainly didn't want that. Some of the more rare plants had taken ages to find and finding them again would be no easy task, especially since some grow only in the Makai.

She set the shower to an almost scalding temperature before getting in. As a demon she could handle hotter temperatures than most. Makoto sighed as she felt the water beat at her muscles, it felt so good to not be using cold river water like she had been. Makoto giggled slightly to herself. She was so spoiled. No other demon would think twice about using river water to bathe…if they bathed. And here she was basking in steaming hot water.

_Perhaps Hiei is right._ She thought as she reached for a bottle of her own shampoo. _Perhaps I am too human to be natural. _The smell of roses and lily filled the steamy air as the pink gel came out of the bottle. Makoto smiled to herself and pushed thought away as she set to the task of washing her long red hair.

After a long shower that left Makoto's skin a slight pinkish shade she wrapped her body in a long ivory towel as she gathered her things again. She hadn't thought to grab another set of clothes before going to take her shower; she was too used to the bathroom being right next to her room. Makoto glanced at her clothes that she had been wearing. They still smelled like blood and were a bit damp from the steam.

Makoto shrugged she'd have to brave the hallway then. Most of the kids were out of school yet so the building was fairly quite and even if it wasn't, she wasn't particularly modest. _Maybe I'm more demon than Hiei gives me credit for. _She thought as she walked out of the bathroom; her soaps and old clothes under one arm and towel wrapped around her torso.

"It's about ti-" Kurt and another boy that seemed to have been waiting for the bathroom stopped to stare at her.

"Sorry about that." She said with a smile. She wasn't about to be embarrassed for being caught half-naked. "I'm afraid I lost track of the time." Makoto explained as she walked past, a few drops of water hitting her face from her still-wet hair.

The boy with Kurt seemed to snap out of his daze first, though he was blushing a wonderful shade of pink. "No problem."

Kurt shook his head, cheeks a strange purple color from a blush. "Ja, ve could vait."

Makoto gave a famous Minamino smile "I'll try to be better next time." She said as she made her way to her room. She would not be undignified and run like a shrieking schoolgirl. She would remain poised and calm…even despite the fact that they were still staring and were starting to make her a bit self-conscious.

"Goodbye." She said as she entered her room. She barely heard them say their own byes as she closed the door behind her. She leaned against the door and sighed. She never knew walking could be such a tiring activity.

**Important terms:**

**youki- Demon energy**

**reiki- spirit energy**


	6. Chapter 6

"Something the matter, Charles?" Logan asked as he entered the Cerebro room where Professor Xavier had been for the past three hours.

Xavier sighed and removed the helmet from his baldhead. "As a matter of fact, yes. I'm concerned with the fact that Makoto came to our attention without the use of Cerebro. Even now, I know she is here but Cerebro cannot pick out her mutant signature."

"And what does that mean, exactly?" The animalistic mutant asked gruffly.

Xavier rubbed his forehead. He could feel the tingle of a headache coming on. "I'm not sure. Only sufficiently powerful mutants have been able to avoid being picked up by Cerebro before. Either Makoto is far more powerful than she has let on or there is something interfering with Cerebro's censors." Xavier rolled back from the desk and turned to better face Wolverine. "Either way I think I'm going to run a check on Cerebro's systems. Perhaps an upgrade or two is in order."

The other man grunted in agreement. "Speaking of Plant-Girl, I don't trust her."

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"She came in earlier smelling like blood. Not just a scratch or anything like that. A full blown blood bath." Logan said recalling the smell of several different sources of blood that had clung to her. "She didn't have a speck on her though. And she gave some cock-and-bull story about an injured fox."

"You think Makoto harmed someone?" Xavier asked curiously.

Logan snorted. "I don't know what she was up to but it wasn't a stroll through the park. I'm just saying Charles; the girl's not normal…even by mutant standards. And she puts me on edge."

Makoto frowned as she listened to the conversation from her spot in the nearby shadows. She hadn't technically been shown this part of the mansion yet but it hadn't been difficult to follow Logan's scent to the secret elevator. _So…they suspect me of hiding things do they? _She thought silently heading back towards the elevator.

_I suppose I really am slipping then. This Cerebro seems an interesting contraption…it may give me away if I'm not careful. _Makoto found nobody else in the underground section of the mansion. School would no doubt be letting out in a half hour or so. She would have no choice but to make an appearance. _I'll have to make an effort to appear normal. _She resigned to herself before slipping into the elevator.

Makoto wandered the upper section of the mansion aimlessly for several minutes before coming across a room full of plants. Her eyes lit up and she rushed forward to examine the many varieties. "What pretties…" She breathed to herself.

"I thought you might like this room." Ororo said rounding a corner.

Makoto jumped. She had been so distracted by the new plants that she hadn't thought to look for anyone in the room. "I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was here." She said quickly as she took a step back.

"It's alright." Ororo said with a kind smile. Makoto hesitantly returned the smile. "What do you think?" The white-haired woman asked gesturing to the plants. "Do they seem healthy to you?"

Makoto glanced around, golden eyes glinting. "Mostly. That Bonsai over there is looking a bit sick." She said reaching out to brush a few clumps of green foliage. Instantly the tiny tree responded to her energy, perking up and turning slightly greener. "You've done a good job though. Well watered, good soil, no signs of pests or diseases like leaf rot."

Ororo smiled. "I'm glad they meet your approval." She said summoning up a small rain cloud and watering a group of flowers that were sitting by the large widow. The entire room was built out of a light colored wood that reminded Makoto of a steam room. Probably water resistant since Ororo didn't seem to care if the water got on the floor or not.

"Back home, me and my father have a green house filled with hundreds of plants. We have a herb garden by the back door and rose bushes all around the sides of the yard." Makoto said smiling at the memory. "We spend hours outside tending them…making sure they have everything they need to be healthy." The red head moved to a fern that was looking a bit under the weather and quickly fed it some of her energy.

"What does your father do?" Ororo asked as she started watering another section of plants.

Makoto smiled over at the other woman. "A botanist. Owns a flower shop too. I got my plant crazed ways from him."

"And your mother?"

Makoto's smile fell instantly. "Mom died…a while ago."

Ororo turned to the teen instantly. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't. We only just met. Don't worry yourself over it." Makoto said brushing non-existent dirt from her hands. "I'd better go. The others should be getting back soon. I hope you don't mind if I visit this room again?"

"Come as often as you like." Ororo said instantly.

Makoto gave her a dazzling smile before leaving the room. With the plants that Ororo was growing now under her influence Makoto was certain that the mansion was almost under her continual surveillance. There had been only a few plants scattered around the mansion and those were her next objectives.

Once she had the inside of the mansion completely canvassed then she'd move to the outside, which was far easier. All she needed now was her own plants to protect her room from intruders. _Hmm, I'll have to use non-man eating plants I believe. We wouldn't want to kill any of my temporary allies… _She thought to herself as she mentally touched the plants around the mansion. They all responded immediately, sending her a sense of peace and normalcy. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

It wasn't long before the mansion came alive. The other students had come back from school. "Makoto! You came after all!" Evan said as soon as he saw the red head. "You stayin'?"

Makoto nodded. "My father agreed to my staying here."

"Awesome! We, like, could use more people." Kitty said.

Makoto suppressed a wince at the liberal use of the word 'like' it made her sound so unintelligent. And yet, Makoto knew that she wasn't particularly stupid. Kitty had been able to figure out Forge's trans-dimensional projector after all. Or at least, what it did.

"Alright! It's about time you guys got back!" Kurt said jumping over the railing from the second story to land in a crouch next to them. He looked up and met Makoto's eyes and instantly blushed purple again. "Uh, H-hi M-makoto…" He said nervously.

Makoto smirked slightly. "Hello, again."

Evan frowned. "Yo, Crawler, man, what's with you?"

"U-uh, nothing!" He said waving his three fingered hands back and forth frantically.

The others exchanged a look of disbelieve mixed with a hefty dose of confusion. "You're blushing." Scott pointed out dryly.

"Oh, leave him alone Scott." Jean said giving the teen a shove.

"I believe he's embarrassed." Makoto said casually as she started heading up the stairs again. "That's the exact same look he gave me when he saw me half naked earlier." She added.

"What!?" Jean demanded bearing down on the blue teen.

"Kurt you pervert!" Kitty instantly joined Jean on the Kurt bashing.

Kurt glanced between the two of them. "Nein! It wasn't me! She's da one that vas valking down da hallvay vith only a towel!" He explained quickly pointing at the retreating Makoto.

Makoto cast a glance over her shoulder. "Really, now, Kurt it's impolite to stare." She said humor lacing her voice. Almost instantly Jean and Kitty were glaring at Kurt again. Scott and Evan had backed away and were clearly contemplating if it was worth it to come to the blue teen's rescue. Makoto just smiled as she continued on her way up to her room.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I know, long time, but I have things stacking up and other stories that get more feedback than this one does. So I update the other stories more.**

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Makoto slipped into the room that housed Cerebro at about two thirty in the morning. It was a simple task for her to bypass the security system as her father and Hiei had been teaching her their best thieving tricks since she was old enough to stand up by herself. Even Yusuke had shown her a thing or two about slight of hand and pick pocketing. Kuwabara, of course, had been much too noble to know anything like that. Stealing was still against his code, no matter who his friends were.

The red-haired vixen sat down in a chair next to the computer consul and began trying to access the mainframe. It was not something she was particularly familiar with. Human computers weren't quite the same to hack into as demonic security systems.

After several minutes Makoto was sitting in front of Cerebro, tapping her fingernail lightly against a single key as she thought. _Password…what would be Xavier's password? _She asked herself as she stared at the screen.

With a sigh the teen decided she didn't know near enough to figure it out and settled for trying to find a back door into the system. It took almost half an hour before she managed to reach the mainframe. She instantly took out her compact communicator and plugged it into a small port on the front of the machine.

A loading bar appeared on the communicator and filled several times before the words 'link established' flashed across the screen. "Alright, let us see what little secrets we can find." She muttered as she started typing out commands.

The first thing she found were profiles of all the people in the mansion plus several she hadn't met. She quickly copied those onto the communicator's temporary memory, lucky she had managed to get one of the newly upgraded ones from Koenma before she left, or this wouldn't have worked at all.

"Power levels?" She questioned as she noticed a rating on each of the profiles. It wasn't anything like demonic power ratings, that's for certain. She'd have to examine it closer later on. Perhaps the two systems were comparable.

Next thing she stumbled across were pages and pages of research. "Arigato, Sensei. That's just what I was looking for." She said with a smile before copying the files as well. Her number one priority was to figure out what exactly these 'mutants' were and if they were a threat. She glanced over the pages as the communicator copied them. Most of it seemed to deal with genetics. Something about a latent gene that they had named the 'X-gene' that triggered varied results.

"Hence the name mutants." She muttered skimming over the last of the page she was one. Apparently, some of the mutations were rather innocuous but some had evolved into quite the issue.

Makoto frowned and moved to a new section of Cerebro's mainframe. She found pages and pages of schematics. Mostly the school grounds and different vehicles that were customized to this group. But then there were the schematics for Cerebro itself. She copied that file as well, knowing she'd have to figure out how this machine scanned for mutants if she was going to pass as one.

She glanced down at her compact and saw that she only had a tiny bit of memory left. Not enough to download another file. She quickly disconnected and pocketed it. She'd have plenty of opportunity to copy more of the files at a later date. She had the things she had needed the most. The research and the inner workings of Cerebro that she could study at her leisure, or send to the Reikai for a more detailed look over.

A few keystrokes and Cerebro was sent back to the state she had found it in. Carefully she snuck out of the room, keeping every advanced sense searching for anyone that might come across her. She didn't see anyone on her way upstairs but she was still uneasy. Something was tugging at the back of her brain again.

She reached for the plants around the manor and found they too were mildly off. Not alarmed yet, but not normal either. She shifted from foot to foot uneasily as she rode the elevator up to the top level. She'd stay on patrol tonight. That was the only thing to do, because she wasn't sleeping with this unease in her mind.

She had to put her influence on the plants around the manor grounds anyway. All the ones inside were twisted around her finger but the forest hadn't yet come completely under her influence.

Makoto didn't bother leaving from the front door, instead finding the nearest window and jumping down from it. She inhaled the chilly night air but didn't smell anything alarming. Not like the blood she'd smelled last time she left the manor. The redhead quickly dashed into the forest, transforming into the small silver fox as she did so. She was harder to catch in full spirit form, not that she was anticipating that being a problem, but still it was better to be overly cautious. At least, that's what she'd always been taught.

The forest was still and quiet as she started to wind through it. The trees and brush reacted instantly to her passing. They perked up slightly, turning a more vivid shade of green and rustling slightly as her fur brushed against them. Her influence spread quickly to every bit of vegetation within a mile of the school.

The longer she stayed the wider the range would get. Though, admittedly two miles would be the utter limit of her influence here in the human world. In the Makai she could probably get an entire forest under her influence but here her powers were dampened quite significantly. There was too much ambient spiritual energy from the humans to block out her youki.

Makoto paused suddenly, catching a whiff of something vaguely familiar. The scent was gone almost immediately though and she couldn't identify it. She resumed her human form and turned amber eyes to the surrounding trees. She still couldn't find the source of that scent and it was bothering her.

"Hmm, this case is quite the puzzle." She muttered still scanning the forest on the off chance the smell would return. After ten minutes she gave up and resumed her patrol of the grounds.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: It's been a long time, huh? Sorry about that, but I got stuck on this story for a while and I finally realized I needed to bring in another YYH character and then I had to decide which one. Not as easy as it sounds...There have been a few changes in my writing since I last posted a chapter of this. Most notably, I'm not writing accents anymore. I found them difficult and made my writing slower so I stopped doing them. Imagine Kurt's accent. I'm sure you can do it.**

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Makoto studied the notes she had written from the research from the stolen files from Cerebro. She'd had the foresight to write them in the most ancient kanji she knew so the chance of anyone realizing exactly what she was studying was practically nothing. Suddenly, there was an explosion right beside her and she glanced over. "Hello, Kurt…shouldn't you be in class right about now?"

"Inducer's on the fritz," he said pointing to his wrist just in time for the image to turn to static and his blue self appear. The image went back to that of a 'normal' human. "But, shouldn't you be in school?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm still in the transfer stage for all my classes. I'm supposed to start next week," she replied turning her attention back to the tiny writing.

"What is all this?" Kurt asked peering over her shoulder.

Makoto glanced over at him before bending down and picking up a large textbook. "Advanced Chemistry. One of my classes back in Japan. These are some notes a classmate of mine took for me while I've been away."

Kurt's eyes widened at the large book. "Man, no wonder you could talk with Forge so easy…this book is huge!" Makoto shrugged some and put the book back off to the side. "And this writing is tiny!" he added in equal amazement. "You must be some sort of Einstein. Even worse than Jean!"

Makoto giggled some. "I was top at my class, yes, but I had to work at it. And my Father has always encouraged me to be the best I can. He got me tutors very early on to make sure I understood everything so I advanced further than most faster than most," she explained shuffling the notes and putting them off to the side to turn and face Kurt completely. "But what are you going to do while your image inducer is broken?"

Kurt grinned and flopped back across the couch. "Relax! An afternoon off school? It's like a blessing!"

Makoto raised an eyebrow. "Blessing, eh? I think it is more likely that you'll only fall behind more in your classes," she replied. "You could be doing so much better if only you took the time to actually study."

Kurt made a face. "But it's so boring…"

Makoto laughed again and rested her cheek on one hand. "Boring though it might be…you still have to do it." Suddenly, the phone started ringing and a moment later Storm called for Makoto. "Excuse me." She quickly got up from her seat on the floor beside the coffee table and made her way to the main hall where the phone was.

"It's your father, Makoto," Storm informed handing her the phone.

The redhead nodded and took the phone from the weather manipulator. "_Father? Has something happened?"_ she asked, instantly switching to Japanese so that there was no chance of being eavesdropped on.

_"I wouldn't say that so much as…someone has happened,"_ he said, sounding mildly amused.

Makoto frowned some at that. "_Someone? Father what are you talking about?"_

Kurama chuckled some from the other side of the phone. _"Apparently, Botan-chan has heard of your mission and decided that she was going to help you with it. She even managed to convince Koenma-sama to agree to it. I'd expect her anytime between now and the next week. You know how well timed she can be."_

Makoto closed her eyes and stifled a groan. Botan was almost as bad as Hiei showing up. The only real plus being that Botan wouldn't try to kill anybody if they got on her nerves. The redhead could only pray that the Reaper left her baseball bat at home, though the oar still hurt it wasn't made of aluminum. "_Thank you for the warning, Father."_

"_You're welcome. And try to be patient with her. You know her heart is in the right place," _he said.

"_I know…I just wish her head was there as well…"_

Kurama chuckled again. _"Goodbye little one, and be safe."_

_"Goodbye, Father,"_ Makoto said before hanging up the phone. She rubbed her forehead some in agitation. She had really hoped to do this particular mission on her own. It was just so delicate of an operation she wanted to limit the number of X-factors. No pun intended.

"Is something wrong, Makoto?" the Professor asked coming up from one of the side hallways. "You seem agitated."

"Oh, well…not 'wrong' per say," she said turning instantly. "It's only… I just got word that my Aunt is coming for a visit. Apparently, she didn't want me being alone in a different country. She's due to arrive any time within the next week."

"I see. And where will she be staying?"

Makoto gave a humorless laugh. "I doubt she knows…she has a tendency to not plan these sort of things in advance…but I'll take care of it Professor. You don't have to worry any."

"Is your Aunt a mutant as well?" the Professor asked.

Makoto felt another light scan of her mind and made sure her barriers were strong. "In a manner of speaking…" she said hesitantly. She wasn't at all sure if Botan would be showing any of her abilities off or even if these Mutants would be able to see them. At the very least they'd see a bright blue haired woman and that was far from normal.

The Professor thought for a moment before smiling. "I see no reason why your Aunt can't stay here then, Makoto. We have plenty of room for her. And it would be good for you to have family so close."

Makoto made the supreme effort to smile and gave a bow. "Arigato, Sensei, you're very kind…"


End file.
